POWERED BY RUSSIA
by Emil Danielyan
Transitions on Line, Czech Rep
Sept 29 2005
Russia tights its grip on Armenia’s energy sector by buying the
country’s national electricity grid. From EurasiaNet.
Russia has enhanced its already dominant role in Armenia’s energy
sector by buying the country’s electricity grid after years of
behind-the-scene maneuvering. The Armenian government gave the green
light recently to the formal takeover of the Electricity Networks
of Armenia (ENA) utility by a subsidiary of Unified Energy Systems
(UES), the state-controlled Russian power monopoly.
UES and other Russian energy firms already own or manage several
major power plants that account for as much as 80 percent of Armenia’s
electricity production. In addition, they are the sole suppliers of
the country’s main energy resources: natural gas and nuclear fuel.
The Armenian government’s decision followed a request submitted by
Midland Resources Holding, a British-registered company that privatized
the Armenian power utility three years ago. Under its contractual
obligations, Midland could not resell ENA to another foreign investor
without official consent. When the government announced its approval
of the sale on 23 September, Energy Minister Armen Movsisian suggested
that Yerevan was swayed by the Russian company’s pledge to assume
Midland’s commitments to make substantial capital investments in the
Soviet-era network.
“With this decision, the government legalized a deal between a buyer
and a seller that was effectively struck long ago,” commented the
Yerevan daily Hayots Ashkhar.
UES had been the de facto owner of ENA since June 2005, when it signed
a controversial “management contract” with Midland. The Russian giant,
acting through one of its offshore subsidiaries called Interenergo BV,
paid $73 million for the right to manage the utility and receive its
profits. Both the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International
Development challenged the legality of the deal, arguing that the
Armenian government, suspiciously silent on the issue, had not been
officially notified of the agreement’s signature beforehand.
UES and Midland countered that they did not need a government
approval for their agreement because it fell short of a formal
acquisition. Still, the two companies eventually decided to formalize
ENA’s sale to the Russians and go through relevant legal procedures.
The move was welcomed by the World Bank and USAID. “I am pleased to
see that the rules are now being followed,” the head of the bank’s
Yerevan office, Roger Robinson, told reporters on 13 September.
However, critics of the President Robert Kocharian’s administration
remain concerned about the Russian takeover of ENA, saying that it
could render Armenia even more dependent on Russia, its main political
and military ally. They also fear that Moscow may now completely
monopolize Armenia’s energy sector and nullify the results of sweeping
reforms undertaken over the past decade. These measures allowed Armenia
to not only end the severe power shortages of the 1990s, but also to
develop an electricity surplus, enabling Armenia to export electricity
to neighboring Georgia and Iran. A key component of that reform effort
has been the structural separation of the facilities that generate,
transmit and distribute electricity.
In 2003, UES was granted ownership of several Armenian hydro-electric
plants and the nuclear power station at Metsamor in return for
repaying the latter’s $40 million debt to Russian nuclear fuel
suppliers. Armenia’s largest thermal power plant, located in the
central town of Hrazdan, was also handed over to Russia in 2002 as
a result of a similar debt-for-equity swap.
Movsisian insisted that this fact will have little bearing on ENA’s
operations. The energy sector, he argued, is tightly regulated by
Armenia’s Public Service Regulatory Commission (PSRC), a supposedly
independent body that sets utility tariffs. UES Deputy Chairman Andrei
Rappoport made a similar point in a 20 September interview with the
Russian news agency Regnum. “The fact is that the most important member
in this market is the commission on regulating public services,”
Rappoport said. “It regulates the state policy on setting tariffs
for each actor of the market, on issuing licenses on their activity,
confirming and coordinating contracts.”
Western donors seem to agree with this line of reasoning. “The very
important thing in a utility is the strength of the regulator,” said
the World Bank’s Robinson. “We have great confidence in the regulator
here in Armenia.”
Russia, however, faces growing competition in Armenia’s energy
market from the country’s southern neighbor, Iran. After months of
deliberations, the Armenian leadership has decided to accept Iran’s
proposal to complete the construction of another large thermal power
plant in Hrazdan. Officials say a state-run Iranian company will invest
$150 million in the plant. In exchange for finishing construction of
the plant, the facility’s electricity will be delivered to Iran, as
a payment-in-kind. The facility will be powered by Iranian natural
gas that will be pumped to Armenia through a pipeline currently
under construction.
Yerevan has reportedly faced strong pressure from Moscow to accept
an alternative proposal from UES and Russia’s GazProm gas monopoly
for completing the construction of this plant. Rappoport admitted
that there has been a “certain rivalry on this issue” between Moscow
and Tehran.
Further competition could come in the form of a $150 million
reconstruction of an old thermal power plant in Yerevan, financed by
the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Armenian officials say
the electricity produced at the modernized facility will be twice
as cheap as that of the Russian-owned Hrazdan plant. Only time will
tell if this is enough of a competitive edge for the new owner of
the Armenian power grid.

SOAD SINGER VISITS CONGRESSMAN’S OFFICE
By Corey Moss
93X.COM, MN
Sept 29 2005
Singer Serj Tankian had some personal business to attend to this week
before System of a Down could shoot their next video. Personal and,
well, global.
Before the band left for the second leg of its fall tour with the
Mars Volta), Tankian promised his 97-year-old grandfather he would
do his best to convince Congressman Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
to bring the Armenian Genocide Resolution to a vote, an issue long
close to System of a Down. And he did just that Tuesday outside the
Speaker of the House’s Batavia, Illinois, office.
Tankian joined members of the Armenian National Committee of America,
the Armenian Youth Federation and his own Axis of Justice organization
in a rally and then read a heartfelt letter he delivered to Hastert’s
office in support of the pending legislation, which would officially
recognize Turkey’s slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915
and 1923.
With the resolution, which overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan
International Relations Committee, Hastert can either bring it to
the House of Representatives for a vote or let it expire.
“It’s all in his hands, he’s the man,” Tankian said of Hastert,
who spoke in support of recognizing the genocide on the House floor
in 1994. “The thing is that a similar resolution was going around in
2000 as well and he was the speaker of the House then, but at the time
[President Bill] Clinton had written a letter asking him not to bring
it up to vote, citing concerns that had to do with Turkey. In 2004
he also had the opportunity to bring another resolution to vote on
… and that didn’t happen either.
“I’m sure that there’s a lot of lobbying going on from the Bush
administration, from the military-industrial complex that sells a lot
of weapons to Turkey, and a whole host of corporate lobbyist firms
that don’t want this thing to pass, but the truth has to come out,
and more so in a democracy than anywhere else,” he continued. “So
we’re fighting the good fight.”
Hastert was not at his office Tuesday and was unavailable for comment
Wednesday (September 28).
As for that System video, for “Hypnotize,” bassist Shavo Odadjian
is returning to the director’s chair for the shoot at Van Andel
Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after having also lensed the band’s
“Question!”.
“This will be our first live video per se,” Tankian said. “We’ve had
videos where we’ve had fans and we played live, but it’s never been
at a venue that we would actually play.”
Of course Odadjian always has something up his sleeve, and Tankian
hinted that it has to do with a helicopter shot. “I’m like, “I’m like,
‘Hey, man, I’m cool with that as long as we’re not hanging from it,’
” the singer joked.
“Hypnotize” is the first single from the second half of the double
album Mezmerize/Hypnotize, due November 22.
“This track’s pretty mellow in comparison to let’s say a ‘B.Y.O.B.’
or something like that,” Tankian said. “But I’m glad we’re going out
with this track. It’s a beautiful song.”
Tankian chose not to elaborate on the song, noting, “It means different
things to different people, even within the band.”
Guitarist Daron Malakian has said he wrote it while waiting in a car
for his girlfriend.
As for the album, fans should expect something just slightly different
from Mezmerize.
“It’s got the whole melodic thing still, but it’s little more
progressive, a little more emotion here and there,” Tankian said.
“But they both come from the same sessions.”
Before Hypnotize hits stores, Tankian will appear on the new album
from Buckethead, Enter the Chicken. Along with lending his vocals,
Tankian produced the album and will release it October 25 on his
Serjical Strike Records.
“It’s a f—ing amazing record,” Tankian said. “It’s a really, really
strong, dynamic rock record, really out there, with like 12 different
singers. I just brought in a whole collection of friends to sing.”
Guests include Saul Williams, Efrem Schulz of Death by Stereo, Bad
Acid Trip and Maura Davis of Denali.
“I think it will be a breakthrough because first of all, Buckethead
mostly does instrumental stuff,” Tankian said. “And he’s never really
done a lot of stuff with pop arrangements, I don’t mean pop like
bubblegum pop, I mean like anything from progressive crazy stuff to
regular beautiful songs. And this album is going to be like that.
It’s got the whole dynamic range of everything Buckethead has ever done
and it totally transpired by accident and just ended up working out.”
Tankian also remixed Notorious B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya” for the “Marc
Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure” graffiti video game,
due November 15. “I love the way it came out,” he said.
From: Baghdasarian

FINNISH PRESIDENT VISITS MILLI MAJLIS
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 29 2005
President of Finland Mrs. Tarja Halonen has visited today the Milli
Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan, where she met with Speaker of the
Milli Majlis Murtuz Alasgarov.
The speaker informed the distinguished guest on the activities of
the Azerbaijan-Finland interparliamentary friendship group noting
the two countries relations were based on the traditions of fruitful
cooperation within international organizations including the Council
of Europe and OSCE. Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh he expressed hope it would be solved on the
basis of the international law, and that the visit to Azerbaijan
by the Finnish president would enhance cooperation between the two
countries in political, economic and cultural fields.
President Halonen responded she stood for solution to the conflict
through negotiations in the framework of the Minsk process adding
assuming EU presidency next year Finland would support Azerbaijan’s
integration into Europe. She expressed hope for democratic
parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan noting if invited Finland too
could sent its observation mission to Azerbaijan.

DEMOCRACY, COUP AND WASHINGTON
By Ali H. Aslan
Zaman, Turkey
Sept 29 2005
An anti-war rally held in Washington over the weekend manifested the
extent to which the freedom to speak out against official views and
discourses can reach in a democracy.
During the rally, attended by hundreds of thousands of people, which
took place on the same day the Armenian conference was held in Turkey,
the Bush administration was vilified. US citizens accused their own
government of imperialism and bloodthirstiness. I am sure the White
House, Pentagon and most other government officials did not like what
was said very much. Nonetheless, thanks to their democratic grasp,
they were able to restrain themselves.
Looking from the US, it is encouraging to see that Turkey is
progressing towards a similar political maturity. The pro-freedom
stance adopted by the Erdogan administration especially during the
recent controversy over the Armenian conference, has been welcome in
Washington. Yet this appreciation is combined with a suppressed feeling
of disappointment. Certainly, some people cannot hide their emotions
or do not feel obliged to do so. For instance, the outburst by Tom
Lantos, an influential leader of the Jewish lobby, which has always
stood by Turkey, during the vote on the Armenian bill in the House of
Representatives, shows that the fire of Iraq in bilateral relations
has not completely turned into ashes yet. Furthermore, Washington has
not been able to draw Turkey to its hard-line stance on Syria and Iran.
However, the executive wing does not have the luxury of behaving as
emotionally as Lantos. They have to be calmer and more pragmatic.
That dealing with Turkey is no longer a cakewalk is well understood.
Americans are aware that more dialogue is needed to draw Turkey to
their line. The level and intensity of the recent diplomatic traffic
between the two nations confirm this. Prime Minister Erdogan and
Foreign Minister Gul are as if they have become residents of the
United States. Ankara was one of the stops in Condi Rice’s first
trip abroad as US Secretary of State. White House National Security
Adviser Stephen Hadley continued with this tradition. Hadley, one of
Bush’s right-hand men on foreign policy, visited municipal facilities
in Ankara, mingled with the people, posed with young folk dancers and
played table tennis, in a clear effort to show that US is determined
to mend its shattered public image in Turkey as well. Washington is
aware that to obtain Ankara’s support without winning over the public
is getting ever more difficult, whereas in the past convincing a few
big-shot elites have been enough.
Americans are definitely exerting more efforts than before to
have relations back on track and to understand Turkey better. As
a matter fact, a close-to-public conference on Turkey was held
last Tuesday at the US State Department. The subject was Turkey’s
relations with countries other than the US, particularly with Middle
Eastern countries. Turkish, American and Arab speakers were among
those attended the brainstorming. Since US foreign policy focuses
on shaping the Middle East and combating terrorism that originates
from the region, the United States overlooking an important regional
player like Turkey, would be unimaginable.
At this point, the following question comes to minds of the some:
“Would the US encourage anti-democratic formations in Turkey in
order to be able to move the policy into the direction that she
likes?” My answer to this question is a categorical no. To tell you
the truth, from Washington’s perspective, relations with Turkey can
be pursued neither with nor without the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party). An American I talked to told me that Erdogan’s ‘learning
curve’ has been a bit long. He could not comfortably say “yes” when
asked whether he has learned enough. However, no one here envisages a
military coup as an alternative to the AK Party government. Because,
first and foremost, such a move would mean the failure of Washington’s
strategy to integrate Turkey into the West through the EU membership
process and collapse of the Bush administration’s whole democracy
discourse in the region.
All right then, where do these coup rumors emanate from? Here is what
I heard: The discontentment of some circles in the Turkish military
with AK Party administration, has reached to the ears of high-ranking
officials in Washington in the form of most extreme possibility,
due to a series of misunderstandings and misevaluations. Until the
fact of matter was realized, there has been some anxiety. In addition
to that, there are attempts by some civilians who cannot read the
conjuncture very well. They think they could get over their problems
with the AK Party administration by inciting Washington. Some even
want to undermine the administration by contracting lobbyists in
Washington. These also bring the military card to the fore. However,
reliable sources I have spoken to said those people were given a
chance for preliminary talks in Washington, partially because their
objectives were not known, however, they would have no second chance
now that their real intentions are clear.
It is true that a consolidated Turkish democracy has in the short run
reduced Washington’s ability to convince Turkey to her relatively
unpopular policies on Iraq, Iran and Syria. But in the long run,
this is perfectly consistent with the ideal of having a Turkey fully
integrated to the Western system. Therefore, no one either in the US or
in Turkey should expect Washington become a tool for anti-democratic
plots. Even you might sometimes hear things that you do not want to
hear, or from time to time get obstructed by it, democracy is always
a good thing…

AUSTRIA PUSHES EU TURKEY WRANGLING TO 11TH HOUR
By Paul Taylor
Reuters, UK
Sept 29 2005
Accession Begins With Acceptance
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Austria blocked European Union agreement on
Thursday on a mandate to start entry negotiations with Turkey next
week, forcing EU foreign ministers to call an emergency meeting for
the eve of the talks to seek a deal.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said it was possible negotiations
might not start on Monday as scheduled, although intense efforts were
continuing to solve what he called serious problems.
A 24-1 deadlock at a meeting of EU ambassadors means the vast, poor,
overwhelmingly Muslim candidate country will be kept on tenterhooks
until hours before Gul is due to fly to Luxembourg to open the talks.
Diplomats said Austria stuck to its demand that Turkey be offered
an explicit alternative to full membership if it failed to meet
the criteria for membership or if the EU was unable to absorb it —
something Ankara vehemently rejects.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel also insisted in newspaper interviews
that the EU open talks immediately with Croatia, Austria’s historic
ally and Roman Catholic neighbour.
Those negotiations were due to have started in March but have been
frozen because of Zagreb’s failure so far to satisfy a U.N. war
crimes tribunal.
“We are facing serious problems with the start of negotiations. We are
in intense negotiations,” Gul told a hastily arranged news conference
in Ankara.
Asked if there was a possibility that talks would not begin, Gul said:
“Undoubtedly there is but there are intense efforts…. We still have
time to solve the problems.”
He said he would not go to Luxembourg until there was clarity on the
negotiating mandate.
A spokesman for EU president Britain said foreign ministers would meet
on Turkey on Sunday evening. He rejected any linkage with Croatia’s
candidacy, which he said would only be discussed on Monday.
DEMOCRACY
Austria demanded substantial changes that Britain had told the envoys
would require a political decision to go back on EU leaders’ unanimous
agreement last December that the objective of the talks was accession,
diplomats said.
Schuessel, whose conservative Austrian People’s Party is battling
to avert defeat in regional elections in the province of Styria on
Sunday, said European politicians should learn from the failed EU
constitution votes in France and the Netherlands.
“Democracy means you have to listen to the demos,” he told the
International Herald Tribune.
His comments reflected strong public opposition in western Europe
to admitting Turkey, which opinion polls show 80 percent of his own
electorate opposes. Austria holds two other regional elections later
in the month after Sunday’s poll.
Gul did not comment directly on a non-binding European Parliament
resolution on Thursday that sought to pose new conditions unpalatable
to Ankara, including recognition of the 1915 killing of Armenians
as genocide.
But he said there were issues which Turkey could never accept and
that members of the bloc were well aware of this.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan earlier said it was up to the
EU to demonstrate its good faith, underlining the strategic benefits
to Europe of embracing his country.
“If the EU is not a Christian club, this has to be proven,” the state
Anatolian news agency quoted Erdogan as saying.
“What do you gain by adding 99 percent Muslim Turkey to the EU? You
gain a bridge between the EU and the 1.5 billion-strong Islamic
world. An alliance of civilisations will start.”
Austria takes over the EU presidency from Britain in January and
its stance could jeopardise its relations with the United States,
which strongly backs Turkey’s accession process.
Schuessel accused European governments of applying double standards
to Turkey and another EU candidate, Croatia.
“If we trust Turkey to make further progress, we should trust Croatia
too … It is in Europe’s best interest to start negotiations with
Croatia immediately,” he told the Financial Times. “It is not fair
to leave Croatia in an eternal waiting room.”
Other EU countries say the start of talks with the former Yugoslav
republic depends on chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte
certifying that it is cooperating fully with her office in the hunt
for fugitive ex-general Ante Gotovina.
(Additional reporting by Zerin Elci in Ankara, Annika Breidthardt in
Vienna, and Marie-Louise Moller in Brussels)

SECOND GLANCES
Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt
Sept 29 – Oct 5, 2005
An American University in Cairo exhibition presents rare photographs
from the collections of KAC Creswell and Van Leo. Amina Elbendary
reports
For AUCians, Creswell is a special collection of books, or a library.
For historians and specialists in Islamic architecture worldwide,
Creswell is a main reference. To check Creswell is to look up what KAC
Creswell had to say about a particular monument in one of his published
works: Early Muslim Architecture (1931) or Muslim Architecture of Egypt
(1951). For artsy Cairenes, Van Leo is a late, eccentric photographer
of glamour shots. You say Van Leo and people in the know immediately
think of the photo of the famous belly-dancer Samia Gamal in action
and under spotlight. The exhibition currently on show at the American
University in Cairo’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library
(RBSCL) offers a tantalisingly-limited selection of photographs by
both Creswell and Van Leo.
The idea might seem strange at first glance. What on earth did
these two men have in common? Born in 1874, Sir Keppel Archibald
Cameron Creswell is one of the generation of traditional, British
Orientalists, a scholar of Islamic architecture, who lived in Cairo
for most of his adult life until 1974, shortly before his death. He
was professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at Fuad I University
(later Cairo University) until 1951 and at AUC from 1956 onwards,
and was active in the Comite de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art
Arabe. The photographs he took were part of his work documenting and
studying Islamic architecture.
Leon Boyadijan (Van Leo), on the other hand, is of a later
generation. Born in 1921, he was a Cairene Armenian who photographed
people — including celebrities — for a living. His photo collection
dates back to the 1940s; he shared a studio with his brother Angelo
until 1974 when he established his own studio where he continued to
work until his death in 2002. As Steven Urgola, AUC’s university
archivist, explained, Van Leo bequeathed a legacy of some 13,000
photographic negatives and 12,000 prints to AUC.
The current exhibition doesn’t delve much into the backgrounds of the
men, but as the archivist of the Creswell photographic collection and
the curator of the Creswell section of the exhibition, Simone Bass,
explains, “the idea was to show so far unseen images of the Van Leo
and Creswell collections and also to show the Creswell collection
in a new light not only as a document for the architectural history
of Cairo but also to show vignettes of social life in Islamic Cairo
from the 1920s to the 1940s.” Creswell documented the state of the
city walls before the clearance work undertaken by the Comite and in
these photos one often sees scenes of everyday life literally at the
margins; they are natural shots of unobserved Egyptians. One example
is of a group of pedestrians standing on the side of Bab al-Futuh,
obviously waiting for Creswell to finish his work before crossing
through the gateway; a little boy with them can’t stand still for
that long: he moves resulting in a double face. On the wall behind
the group is clearly legible graffiti reading: al-ikhwan al-muslimun :
du’at al-qur’an (The Muslim Brothers: Preachers of the Qur’an).
Out of some 10,000 photographs that the Creswell collection comprises,
at least about 400 show some aspect of city life — against their
taker’s wishes. Indeed in some photographs one finds signs of the
lengths to which Creswell went to remove the people from his shots
to get the best possible unobstructed view of a monument.
Sometimes people left traces in spite of Creswell’s best efforts. A
series of photographs of the interior of the mausoleum of Sultan Pasha
also suggest that the keeper had made his lodging in the mihrab :
one image shows a bed and personal belongings while the second shows
a perfectly orderly interior; brushstrokes are even visible on the
floor suggesting a recent sweep. “Creswell was not really interested
in people,” Bass muses, “for him people were only interesting as
patrons of monuments or as builders, but after this people should
stay away from a monument because anything else they could do would
only cause damage. He liked to see his buildings without people.”
A pioneer in photographing Islamic monuments in Cairo in the early
20th century, Creswell was particularly interested in early Muslim
and mediaeval architecture but his collection also includes Ottoman
buildings — contemporary urban architecture did not interest him
— and he often returned to the same monument after restoration to
document its altered state. Creswell’s photos “are a very important
source [for the history of art and architecture], and they become
more important as time passes”, explains George Scanlon, professor of
Islamic Art and Architecture at AUC, “because many of the monuments
have themselves disappeared and the ambiance around the monuments
has certainly been eclipsed.” Creswell also travelled widely in the
Arab and Muslim world and took his camera along: “His photographs
of cities like Samarra are of great importance today because these
centres are in the eye of the storm. There are even some from Iran
that are of interest because the monuments have changed so much today,”
adds Scanlon.
This is where the interest of the Creswell photographic collection
primarily lies. However, at the risk of sounding glib, the photos
can only be of use to scholars if they have access to them. AUC has
had the collection at least since 1956, when, on the eve of the
tripartite aggression, Creswell donated his collection of books,
notes and photographs to the university to ensure their safety. With
time the books have found a home in the RBSCL; little has been done —
yet — with the photographs, papers and notes.
More importantly, the photographs need first to be catalogued and
made accessible to scholars. “Getting all of this catalogued would
be more like a national endeavour,” says Scanlon, “now we are trying
desperately to raise money so that we can have all the photographs
properly catalogued and made more quickly available to the professional
public.” Indeed, as Bass explains, an 18-month project funded by
the Getty Foundation to catalogue and conserve the photographs alone
will come to an end in October 2005, at which point the catalogue —
though not the images themselves — will be available online. While
AUC Press, we are told, indicated an interest in publishing some of
the unpublished photographs, more work is needed to make full use
of them. In this age of digital technology, a digital archive should
seem the best possible option.
Van Leo, on the other hand, is known for his “artistic” photographs and
his glamour photographs of the rich and famous. The exhibition here
juxtaposes some of his recognisable glamour shots with other unknown
images of the same celebrities. It thus offers a curious insight into
the making of an image, and the manipulative role that the photographer
played in the process. Like many professional photographers, Van Leo
would usually take a series of photos in a particular session yet only
one would leave the studio. And it is rather jerking to see some of
the photos of celebrities that have become almost iconic placed in this
pluralistic context. Doria Shafik’s famous portrait has her all serious
and intellectual. To see another image of her as playful and smiling,
on display here, offers a more human idea of her character. Van Leo’s
prints also show how he artistically manipulated images to produce
the perfect photograph: cropping repeatedly, playing with light and
shadow, and sometimes hand-colouring the photo.
The exhibition, curated by Kristen Gresh, who also headed a cataloguing
project of the collection over the past year, also displays photos of
non-celebrities — the everyday kind of work at Van Leo’s studio. Since
many Cairenes and even foreign visitors went to his studio to get their
portraits or wedding photographs taken, Van Leo’s collection offers an
interesting insight into Cairo’s social history. The photos are mainly
of upper middle-class Cairenes who were not famous in their day, but
other less privileged faces were also snapped by him. On display is a
photograph of Van Leo’s own bawwab (doorman) which was part of a series
on Cairene bawwabs. Once can’t help wondering what conversation —
if any — the two men exchanged as the pose was taken. An endearing
series shows children posing in costumes, professional or national,
in a tradition that has all but disappeared from Cairo today. After
the revolution, for example, many children had their photos taken in
miniature army uniforms.
Although primarily a studio photographer, Van Leo’s collection does
include street scenes, among which is a series from the neighbourhood
of Muski. In contrast to Creswell’s focus on one particular monument
per photograph, Van Leo’s offer overviews of streets including the
tradesmen, buyers and sellers and children, yielding a rare insight
into “unposed” Cairene life.
Van Leo has so often been reduced — or elevated — to the status of
glamour photographer that it is refreshing to look at his photographs
from the point of view of social history. Yet it is an endeavour that
hasn’t quite borne fruit here; this sample only suggests possible
uses for the collection. But it might soon be easier to do things
with the Van Leo collection; a cataloguing project is well underway.
Over the past year the collection has been organised according to over
15 series or categories, and the photographic prints and negatives
have been rehoused in archival-quality polyester sleeves, albums,
and boxes. “In addition, detailed narrative descriptions and a list
of album and box contents have been prepared and are currently being
edited. Van-Leo’s personal papers (correspondence, business records,
magazine collections, etc.) have also been organised and are being
described,” explained Urgola. The catalogue will be available through
AUC’s library catalogue online later this year thus opening up numerous
possibilities to researchers.
This rather small exhibition is refreshing in that it tries to place
the photos of Creswell and Van Leo in a different light from the one
they are usually seen in. Creswell is often consigned to history of
architecture buffs that the uniqueness of his photographs of Cairo
is ignored. Similarly, Van Leo’s photos of non- celebrities, which
were by necessity the majority of his clients, are rarely placed in
the limelight. The change of perspective is exciting for the many
possibilities it suggests.

EP PROVOCATIONS TO TURKEY
By Selcuk Gultasli
Zaman, Turkey
zaman.com
Sept 29 2005
The European Parliament (EP) which postponed ratification on the
Customs Union Supplementary Protocol, signed between Turkey and
European Union (EU) has now called Turkey to acknowledge the events
which took place between 1915 and 1923, as Armenian genocide.
After calling the prosecution of Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk and
the cancellation of the Armenian conference ‘provocations’ aiming to
obstruct Turkey’s EU process, the EP has now made a provocation itself.
On Wednesday, the EP issued one of its most severe resolutions on
Turkey. EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Chair Joost Lagendijk
told Zaman, “After the provocations of Pamuk and Armenian conference,
this is a provocation from EP.”
The resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide is non-binding, but
the EP’s attitude regarding the protocol is assessed as the beginning
of a legal crisis. For the Supplementary Protocol to come into effect,
approval in the European Parliament is required.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn maintained the postponement
would not impede the beginning of the negotiations. However, his
letter to EP is reported to have been effective in the postponement.
The Commissioner who had announced he would take action so that
Turkish parliament did not handle the Supplementary Protocol and the
declaration together, had put EP into expectation.
In the meantime, Christian Democrats have turned out to have deceived
other political groups in the EP.
The Christian Democrats had promised not to propose the postponement
of the vote on the Supplementary Protocol if a common resolution
emerged in the last session.
On Wednesday evening, however, they announced they would not keep
to this.
The Supplementary Protocol that envisages the extension of the Customs
Union to the 10 new Union members including the Greek Cypriots was
on EP’s agenda Wednesday.
Postponing the ratification vote on the Supplementary Protocol and
issuing a joint resolution which contained quite severe terms.
The delay in approving the Supplementary Protocol has triggered a
serious legal crisis on the eve of October 3.
The Christian Democrats, EPP, demanded of Turkish parliament to left
out the unilateral declaration, which proclaimed non-recognition of the
Greek Cypriots, during the ratification process of the Supplementary
Protocol in the Turkish Parliament and they managed to impose this
approach to the EP.
Now, the European Parliament wants to see how the Supplementary
Protocol and the declaration will be handled by the Turkish parliament.
Turkey, in the meantime, has communicated to its counterparts that
it is out of question that the European parliament does not ratify
the declaration.
Ankara thinks that the declaration and its ratification are rights that
derive from the international law and that EP’s demand is tantamount
to asking Turkey not to exercise the rights that derive from the
international law.
The EP could not assume a consistent attitude with regard to Turkey’s
declaration on Cyprus, it has been noted. The Union had not taken
any such action in relation with the declaration Greece unilaterally
issued to object to the name of Macedonia.
Reportedly, the EP has taken four decisions similar to the one about
the so-called Armenian genocide it has taken on Wednesday.
The first of these four decisions was taken in 1987.
Attention is drawn to attitudes that these decisions were evaluated
“politically” rather than “legally” and that the decisions by the
European Court of Justice reflected the same perspective.
Christian Democrats mislead the parliament
Christian Democrats misled the other political groups in the EP about
the supplementary protocol.
In the last meeting with the other political groups, the EPP promised
they would not offer any postponement of the supplementary protocol
if a common decision appears like this. Upon this, the Socialists,
the Greens, and the Liberals allowed the joint decision to toughen
against Turkey.
The EPP group assured that they would not present any motion asking
amendments in some issues including the so-called Armenian genocide
in return of toughening the text.
However, the EPP calling the other groups at late night hours on
Wednesday said they would not be dependent on the agreement reached
and present a motion about postponement of the supplementary protocol.
The EPP has therefore toughened the joint resolution as they wished and
caused the so-called Armenian genocide to be accepted as a precondition
for Turkey’s membership to the EU.
Chair of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee in EP Joost
Lagendijk said the EPP misled them. Lagendijk directing his criticisms
specifically to Elmar Brok said they were shocked as the resolution
was reached with the support of unexpected groups.
EU Commissioner Olli Rehn scores own goal
Reportedly, an official letter by the EU Commissioner for Enlargement
Olli Rehn to the EP was effective in the postponement of the
supplementary protocol. Rehn sent a letter to Elmar Brok, chairman
of the EP’s Foreign Affairs Committee, on September 22, conveying
he would make an attempt not to allow Turkey’s Cyprus declaration
(July 29) to be approved together with the supplementary protocol at
Turkish parliament.
Comments have been made that that the EP had expectations about this
and the letter became effective in the postponement of the voting.
Rehn released an announcement yesterday expressing regrets about
the EP’s decision of delay and saying the decision will not affect
the negotiations to begin on October 3. Rehn determined that EP’s
attitude weakened EU’s calls on Turkey about non-fulfillment of its
promises about the Supplementary Protocol.
Rehn also used football terminology in his yesterday speech saying
that EU should not score an own goal. Despite Rehn’s warnings, EP
members delayed the voting with the excuse that Turkey will approve
the Declaration on Cyprus in the Turkish Parliament.
Significant points of the decision
If Turkey does not approve the Supplementary Protocol, EU negotiations
may stop.
Chapters on the Customs Union should be first chapters to deal with.
Turkey should immediately recognize the Greek Cypriot Administration.
Recognition is not an issue to be discussed.
Turkey should pullout its troops from Cyprus in an early period under
the framework of a schedule.
EU’s absorption capacity is a prerequisite of enlargement.
Isolation on Turkish Cypriots should end.
Lawsuit against Orhan Pamuk is a source of concern. Turkish Criminal
Code’s (TCK) articles of 301/1 and 305 should be reviewed. Bill on
Foundations is a source of concern as well.
Vessels and airplanes under Greek Cypriot flag should be permitted
to enter Turkish sea and airports.
EU Commission should inform about the number of people who have faced
torture in Turkey in the progress report.

BAYKAL LOBBIES IN LONDON FOR TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP
Turkish Press
Sept 29 2005
Press Review
SABAH
Opposition People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said yesterday
that Turkey had fulfilled its obligations on the road to European
Union membership. Speaking to the BBC on his trip to London to hold a
series of contacts to push Turkey’s EU membership bid, Baykal said that
Turkey had seen great changes in recent years. Regarding the Armenian
issue, the CHP leader said that the European Parliament’s demand for
recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide was a trap, adding that
that shouldn’t be a precondition for Ankara’s full membership. /Sabah/

REHN: “THE EP DELAY ON THE ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL VOTE WON’T HINDER ANKARA’S EU TALKS”
Turkish Press
Sept 29 2005
Press Review
CUMHURIYET
Appearing on news channel NTV yesterday, European Union Commissioner
for Enlargement Olli Rehn said that European Parliament decisions
postponing approval of the additional protocol and pushing recognition
of the so-called Armenian genocide for Ankara’s EU membership wouldn’t
be obstacles to the beginning of Turkey’s EU accession talks. Rehn
stated that Turkey should fulfill the additional protocol as soon
as possible, adding that not doing so would adversely affect its
talks. He further stated that Ankara should take into consideration
the EU’s counter-declaration. In related news, Turkey-EU Joint
Parliamentary Committee Chairman Joost Lagendijk criticized the EP
decision postponing approval of the protocol, saying that it had sent
the wrong message to Turkey.

E.U. CONDITIONS
By Derya Sazak
Turkish Press
Sept 29 2005
MILLIYET- The policy of creating difficulties for Turkey’s European
Union membership continues. A vote on the Customs Union Additional
Protocol was postponed at the European Parliament yesterday.
Christian Democrats want the protocol to be voted on at our Parliament
first. Some EU circles consider the declaration which Turkey released
during its adoption of the Customs Union to Southern Cyprus to be
‘discrimination.’ EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said
that the course of membership talks with the EU might be affected
if Turkey doesn’t fulfill its obligations concerning implementation
of the additional protocol. It seems that our membership talks will
start on Oct. 3. However, if Turkey doesn’t create an atmosphere
for recognizing Southern Cyprus by opening its harbors for Greek
Cypriot ships and planes by fall 2006, our EU membership talks could
be suspended. A draft decision calling for recognizing the so-called
Armenian genocide as a precondition for Turkey’s full EU membership
was signed by French Socialist parliamentarians yesterday.
Meanwhile, a suggestion for privileged partnership was rejected.
Despite Ankara’s insistence, the framework document, the roadmap for
Turkish-EU relations, doesn’t mention it. However, it states that at
the end of ‘open-ended negotiations’ Turkey can become a member only
after the EU institutions are restructured. Ankara is ready to leave
the table if new conditions block the way to full membership. The
dilemma within the EU before Oct. 3 is growing; some say that the
promises given to Turkey must be kept, but on the other hand there
are other circles favoring ending relations before the membership
talks start. The framework article leaked from Brussels stating that
Ankara wouldn’t block Greek Cyprus’ international group membership was
a last-minute surprise. In return, keeping permanent restrictions on
free movement even if Turkey becomes an EU member is another sanction
not applied to other EU members. The EU hill is getting steeper,
and conditions for Turkey’s EU membership are being prepared. During
the discussions on last Dec. 17, Oct. 3, etc, a ‘game over’ trap is
being prepared with the Cyprus timetable for 2006. The government
will have difficulties making a decision next Monday.