ARMENIAN DELEGATION HELD SEVERAL MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON
Pan Armenian News
28.09.2005 03:57
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 24-28 the Armenian governmental delegation
was in Washington for the participation in the sitting of the
Armenian-American intergovernmental working group on economic affairs
and the annual sitting of the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. Armenian Minister of Economy and Finance Vardan Khachatrian,
RA President’s Chief Advisor on Economic affairs Vahram Nersisyants,
Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Chshmaritian,
Minister of Agriculture David Lokian, RA Central Bank President Tigran
Sargsian, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian, RA Ambassador to
the U.S. Tatul Margarian and Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance
Tigran Khachatrian served on the Armenian delegation.
Within the framework of the WB-IMF sitting the Armenian delegation
members met with the leadership of the organizations. September
27 they met with Millennium Challenge Corporation Acting Executive
Director Charles Setnes to discuss the Armenian Millennium Challenge
program. The parties agreed on proceeding with the joint activities
in order to accomplish the program. The Armenian delegates also held
meetings with Dutch Minister of Finance Gerrit Zalm and the Iranian
Minister of Finance.

ANALYSIS-CYPRUS WILL HINDER NOT BLOCK TURKEY EU TALKS
By Michele Kambas
Reuters
09/28/05 09:56 ET
NICOSIA, Sept 28 (Reuters) – A divided Cyprus is unlikely to block
Turkey’s path in talks on joining the European Union but will attempt
to wring concessions from the big, Muslim nation every step of the way,
analysts said.
Greek Cypriots, who represent Cyprus in the EU, will be reluctant to
use their veto against Turkey in the talks, which start on Monday,
for fear of further damaging U.N. efforts to end the Mediterranean
island’s 31-year division, officials said.
But they could still create headaches for the EU in each of the 35
sections of membership negotiations, known as chapters, which require
unanimity from all 25 members. The EU is already facing objections
from members such as France and Austria.
“It is our right (to use the veto), as it is the right of other member
states, but we are not thinking about it right now,” said a senior
Cypriot official who requested anonymity.
Analysts say Cyprus is sure to constantly remind both Turkey and
the EU of any shortcomings, but Greek Cypriots know it is in their
interest to have Ankara in the EU rather than out.
“It must be very distasteful for them to allow the process to go
forward while Turkey is in occupation of part of Cyprus, but you have
to balance that by looking forward in the hope Turkey becomes more
moderate and European,” said analyst James Ker-Lindsay, director of
Civilitas Research in Nicosia.
DIVISION RUN DEEP
In divided Nicosia, Greek Cypriots can see a massive Turkish Cypriot
flag painted on the jagged mountain slopes on Cyprus’s northern rim.
Both sides are heavily militarised.
A ceasefire line laced with mines and patrolled by a U.N peacekeeping
force separates Greeks from the smaller and less wealthy Turkish
Cypriot community in the north.
“This isn’t Austria. The Austrians can have their opinions but they
are not going to suffer if the door is closed in Turkey’s face.
Cyprus will,” said Ker-Lindsay.
Cyprus, internationally recognised and Greek Cypriot-ruled, had hoped
Turkey’s EU aspirations would help re-unite the island invaded by
Turkey 1974 after a brief Greek-led coup.
But the United Nations abandoned its efforts in 2004, stung by the
rejection of its reunification plan. Another half-hearted attempt
flopped earlier this year with diplomats blaming the Greek Cypriots
for playing hard ball.
The EU would rather not get involved. It is likely to try to skirt
around sensitive issues in the talks but it remains to be seen whether
this will be possible, said Phedon Nicolaides of the European Institute
of Public Administration at Maastricht.
“I think everyone will play for time. The Commission will play for
time, the Turks will play for time. Everyone is hoping for a solution,
but there is nothing suggesting the U.N. are undertaking any new
initiative,” he said.
In a foretaste of what is to come, EU envoys spent much of September
haggling over how to formulate a response to Ankara’s refusal to
recognise Cyprus without a peace deal first.
And Cyprus has made clear it will fight hard on specific points,
such as Turkey lifting a financially damaging blockade on Cypriot
aircraft and vessels.
Ankara has failed to fully comply with an accord extending its customs
union to Cyprus, an issue which will be up for further review in
2006. Failing implementation, Cyprus will want its EU partners to
throw the book at Turkey.
Among its own options are a recourse to the European Court and to
report Turkey to the World Trade Organisation and GATT.
“Turkey fully understands that if talks are to get off to a positive
rhythmn then issues related to the customs union will be a priority,”
said John Palmer, director at the European Policy Centre in Brussels.
Analysts warn that the EU and Cyprus should be careful not to push
too hard a country that has had its pride pricked by criticism of
its human rights record and Europeans openly cautious of admitting
it into a largely Christian club.
The European Parliament, in a non-binding resolution, said on Wednesday
Turkey had to recognise the killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule
in 1915 as genocide before it could join.
“The difficulty for Cyprus is that Turkey is beginning to realise that
they can get on without being a full member of the EU. It is not EU
accession at all costs,” said Tim Ash, emerging markets strategist
at Bear Stearns in London.
“They will want to push Turkey for concessions on Cyprus, but not
too hard.”

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT, MINUS OPPOSITION, APPROVES CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
The Associated Press
09/28/05 08:59 EDT
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – The Armenian parliament on Wednesday gave
final approval to constitutional amendments intended to impose a
more strict separation of powers between the judicial, executive and
legislative branches.
The proposed changes also include removal of a clause outlawing dual
citizenship for members of Armenia’s large foreign Diaspora.
The package of changes passed by a vote of 89-0, with one abstention.
The 24 opposition deputies, however, boycotted the vote, just as they
have boycotted most sessions of parliament on the grounds that their
proposals were not taken into account.
The opposition has called on Armenians to reject the amendments in
a late November referendum.

A NEW FILM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT ‘MOSCOW’ CINEMA
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily #173
28/09/2005
Cinema
On October 16, “Moscow” cinema will show the premiere of “Arakel”,
film director Zohrap Bek-Gasparents told journalists yesterday. The
movie depicts events of 1910-15 in Eastern Armenia. It is a story
of a frustrated love that continues and gains momentum as deported
Armenian workers and intellectuals carry out their exile. “This is
a real story that happened to my grandpa’s brother. On this road it
is love that saves them, love that is peculiar only to Armenians and
their faith in God”, the filmmaker said.
The preparatory works of the film began in December of the last
year. The film was shot in Lori, Gyumri, in the surroundings of
the Lake Sevan and Yerevan. The budget of “Arakel” amounted to
$100.000. The film director thinks that this is a very small sum for
a fiction but it’s more important that one has a wish to shoot. Zohrap
Bek-Gasparents thinks that everybody should work hardly in his sphere
to gradually approach the day of Armenian Genocide’s international
recognition.
The film is currently being translated into Russian, English and
French. The authors of the film will make every effort to show it
in Turkey. They also work to represent the film at international
festivals and have so far made several arrangements.
“We have to go back to our faith. We can only pin our hopes on our
God and us. The Armenians are very forgiving. If someone apologizes
for a crime he committed he is sure to be forgiven. As far as our
neighbor lacks nobility to say sorry, we have to present as many
films and books as needed to make them understand”.

EU PARLIAMENT DEALS SETBACK TO TURKEY
By Jeremy Smith
Reuters
09/28/05 14:27 ET
STRASBOURG, France, Sept 28 (Reuters) – European Union lawmakers
chided Turkey on Wednesday, five days before it is due to open EU
membership talks, demanding that Ankara recognise the 1915 killing
of Armenians as genocide before it joins the bloc.
The European Parliament gave grudging blessing to the start of
negotiations next Monday after a heated debate that vented strong
criticism of Turkey’s human rights record.
But it postponed a vote to ratify Turkey’s extended customs union
with the EU in a bid to put pressure on Ankara to open its ports and
airports to traffic from EU member Cyprus.
The non-binding resolution was a political slap in the face for Turkey,
which insists there was no genocide.
The Turkish lira and stock market lost ground on the news, although
traders said they did not believe the Oct. 3 opening of talks was
at risk.
Former Turkish foreign minister Yasar Yakis from the ruling AK party
told NTV television: “These decisions of the European parliament make
things more difficult for Turkey.”
EU governments remain deadlocked on a negotiating mandate for the
talks, with Austria holding out for a more explicit mention of an
alternative to membership.
Ankara reaffirmed on Wednesday it would accept nothing less than
full membership.
Diplomats said the 25 EU foreign ministers would probably hold
an emergency meeting on Sunday night in Luxembourg, hours before
negotiations are meant to start, to seek an agreement.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country holds the revolving
EU presidency, told his Labour Party conference in Brighton, England,
the decision was a test for the EU.
“It would now be a huge betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the
Turkish people and of Prime Minister (Tayyip) Erdogan’s programme of
reform if, at the crucial time, we turned our back on Turkey,” he said.
“For Turkey would lose from a ‘no’ decision. But Europe and its people
would lose even more.”
RECOGNISE CYPRUS
The EU legislature demanded that Turkey recognise Cyprus soon and
said negotiations could be suspended unless it granted access to
Cypriot aircraft and shipping by next year.
The vote followed an emotional debate in which many deputies attacked
Turkey’s record on human rights, religious freedom and minorities,
reflecting widespread public hostility to the poor, populous, mostly
Muslim nation ever joining the EU.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn regretted the decision to delay
ratification of the extended customs union, saying it would weaken
Brussels’ hand with the Turks, but stressed it would have no impact
on the start of negotiations.
Rehn warned Turkey it would have to amend its new penal code, adopted
to meet EU criteria, if hardline judges were still able to prosecute
the country’s leading novelist for expressing his views on the killings
of Armenians under Ottoman rule.
“The case of author Orhan Pamuk is emblematic of the difficulties
to ensure effective and uniform implementation of these reforms, and
also of the struggle between reformers and conservatives in Turkey,”
Rehn told the European Parliament.
An Istanbul judge is prosecuting the writer for “denigrating Turkish
identity” by endorsing the term genocide. He faces up to three years
in jail if convicted.
Other judges tried in vain to halt an academic conference in Istanbul
on the Armenian issue last week.
EU lawmakers demanded an undertaking that when the Turkish parliament
ratifies a protocol extending the customs union to new EU member
states, it will not attach a government declaration refusing to
recognise Cyprus.
Rehn had warned parliament it would be scoring “an own goal” if it
refused to approve the extended customs union.
Many lawmakers questioned the EU’s ability to absorb Turkey financially
and politically, especially after French and Dutch voters’ rejected
a draft EU constitution designed to streamline the bloc’s creaking
institutions to cope with enlargement.
Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit caused uproar by accusing some
right-wing critics of Turkey of “surfing on a wave of racism.”
Rehn said that on balance, Turkey had made sufficient progress on
human rights to justify opening talks, saying the negotiations would
give the EU crucial leverage over the direction of Turkish reforms.
Opinion polls show a majority of EU citizens, especially in France,
Germany and Austria, oppose Turkish membership.
Hans-Gert Poettering, leader of the conservative European People’s
Party, said if Turkey did not improve its human rights record within
a period after starting talks, “then we should be prepared to suspend
the negotiations.”
(Additional reporting by Marcin Grajewski in Brussels; Zerin Elci in
Ankara and Mike Peacock in Brighton, England)

U.S. LAWMAKERS DIRECTING SCHOOLS TO EXPAND HISTORY CURRICULUMS
By Michael Gormley
The Associated Press
09/28/05 13:05 EDT
ALBANY, New York (AP) – State legislators across the United States
are increasingly directing their schools to teach students more about
the struggles and triumphs of different races and ethnic groups –
a move critics say amounts to politically correct meddling.
In the latest such example, a new commission in New York will examine
whether the “physical and psychological terrorism” against Africans in
the slave trade is being adequately taught in schools. The commission
is named for the slave ship Amistad, which was commandeered by slaves
who eventually won their freedom in the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The recommendations could mean rewriting textbooks, which may influence
educators in other states, according to the National Council for the
Social Studies.
A number of other U.S. states have enacted similar measures in the last
five years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Illinois also created an Amistad commission this year and added lessons
on the Holocaust, while New Mexico’s legislature required Indian
education lessons be bolstered in kindergarten through sixth grade.
In 2001, New Jersey created an Amistad commission and the Commission
on Italian and Americans of Italian Heritage Culture and Education
to advise policy makers.
California created Cesar Chavez Day – in memory of the Mexican American
labor leader – in 2000 and directed schools to include lessons about
the farm labor activist. That same year, Rhode Island directed schools
to teach about genocide and human rights violations including the
slave trade, the Irish potato famine, the Armenian genocide of the
early 1900s, the Holocaust and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s
fascist regime.
Virginia also directed schools that year to teach about the
accomplishments of people from different ethnic backgrounds and races,
women and disabled people.
But while most legislatures enact curriculum changes recommended by
education departments, teachers and researchers, New York’s Amistad
Commission is a case of the Legislature trying to circumvent the
state’s policy-setting Board of Regents.
“Slavery is the backbone on which this country was built,” said
Assemblyman Keith Wright, a New York City Democrat who wrote the
Amistad bill. “We haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg in
terms of studying it … I have two children and I don’t think they
have studied the issue thoroughly.”
Critics say the goal of the commission is laudable but that teachers
already have limited time to teach American history. They also say
educators are needed on the panel to make sure its recommendations
are feasible.
The commission will include 19 unpaid members. Eight will be appointed
by the governor, and the rest will be picked by the state secretary
of state, the state education commissioner and the majority leaders
of the Legislature. Panelists need not be academics.
On the Net:
New York Assembly:
National Council for the Social Studies:

INTEGRATION BUT NOT ASSIMILATION
By Tatoul Hakobian
AZG Armenian Daily #173
28/09/2005
Diaspora
NGOs of Javakhk Demand Wide Autonomy Within Georgia
On September 23-24, the Armenian NGOs of Samtskhe-Javakhk region held
their 3d assembly in Akhalkalak within the frameworks of “Integration
but not Assimilation” initiative. The assembly adopted a resolution at
the end of the meeting. In a phone conversation with Azg, head of Virq
Party, Davit Rstakian, informed that a number of active organizations
of Javakhk took part in the assembly (“Javakhk” movement, JEM, Akunq,
A-Info and Virq).
The resolution they passed says that “only federally united Georgia
can secure final stability in the region as well as territorial
wholeness of the country… Unbalance approach in the state structures
to national minorities can damage Georgia’s international authority
and the democratic tendencies in the country”.
The Armenian organizations of Javakhk outlined the necessary steps for
the Georgian government to take in regard to national minorities:
“Granting Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakhk and Kvemo-Kartli
regions the status of an autonomous subject within Federal Georgia
with wide autonomy including the right of holding free elections
for of all autonomous bodies; granting Armenian language the status
of official along with Georgian; appropriate subsidies from state
budget for preserving and developing the national identity, culture,
language and history of the nations living in Samtskhe-Javakhk”.
The Russian and Georgia mass media widely covered the meeting. While
Moscow stresses the demand of autonomy, Tbilisi labeled the organizers
of the assembly extremists and separatists. Davit Rstakian told Azg
that “we are the owners of this land” and “we organized this assembly”
to give truthful assessment to present problems.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA RECEIVES 260.000 TOURISTS ANNUALLY
By Tamar Minasian
AZG Armenian Daily #173
28/09/2005
Tourism
These six months 108.517 people visited Armenia of which only 20.474
people stayed at the hotels. The rest of them preferred staying
at their friends and relatives or to rent apartments. The tourism
agencies are really concerned about this statistics. According to
the State Statistic Service, 32.7% of the tourists were from the CIS
countries, 28% from the EU and 19,5% from the U.S.
Yesterday was International Day of Tourism. Armenian tourism
agencies represented the current situation in the Armenian market
of tourism. “The Union of Armenian Tourism Operators” was created in
early 2005. This organization unites 13 tourist agencies. According to
the specialist, some progress has been fixed in the sphere recently,
but there is still much to do. “We need to enlarge the number of
specialists of the sphere. We need guides and administrators that
keep in line with the European standards,” Karen Andreasian, head of
“First Travel” agency said.
He added that large-scale investments are needed to make in the sphere,
including both the capital and the regions.
According to the research of international organizations, Armenia is
quite capable to receive 500.000 tourists annually, in case relevant
substructures are created. Today 260.000 tourists visit Armenia
every year.

Big Night
Dance music’s all grown up at the Dance Music Hall of Fame
Fly Life
The Village Voice (New York)
September 27th, 2005 3:44 PM
by Tricia Romano
While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognizes dinosaurs of a bygone
era, the Dance Music Hall of Fame honors living legends. François
Kevorkian, Jellybean benitez, and Frankie Knuckles were among the
artists, DJs, producers, and label managers inducted at DMHOF’s second
annual ceremony last week.
Kevorkian, whose history in dance music stretches back to the disco era,
nabbed two honors – for Remixer and DJ – so it was only fair that he gave
the longest speech, in which he thanked everyone from Kraftwerk to David
Mancuso to Larry Levan. Since dance music will never get respect in
America (as host dj cousin Brucie noted in a speech), it may be the only
time you’ll hear people like Detroit techno artists Derrick May and Jeff
Mills and Kevorkian’s former Body & Soul colleague Danny Krivit getting
props from someone on a podium. After Kevorkian was finished, Brucie
cracked, “He mentioned everyone in the goddamn room!”
The awards show, held at the considerably tonier Grand Ballroom at the
Manhattan Center, was all grown up this year. Fancy banquets and glitzy
big-screen TVs, coupled with a more professional production than last
year’s seat-of-your-pants show at Spirit, led Danny Tenaglia to quip: “I
feel like I’m at an Italian wedding!” He surmised why he wasn’t getting
inducted just yet. “I’m not old enough!” Then we high-fived.
Before the show, Randy Jones – known as “the Cowboy” from the Village
People and wearing a cowboy hat to make sure you knew that – hung out with
his lawyer. “I trusted him with everything!” he said, to which his
lawyer added, “And I took it all!”
A large man later stopped me and insisted that I take his picture. “I’m
very important.” I didn’t recognize him. He was Patrick Adams, whose
name didn’t ring a bell, but whose songs did. He cited “Push Push (In
the Bush)” to jog my memory. Say no more. I took his picture.
You know how during normal awards shows you fall asleep during the
musical performances because they suck so badly? This was not a problem.
The music was so good I wished they’d skip the speeches altogether. Ray
Chew and the Crew, the Apollo Theatre’s house band, was unbelievably
good – turning out medleys of popular disco hits and backing performances
by the Trammps, Kathy Sledge leading Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,”
and a tribute to Sylvester, featuring Martha Wash, Byron Stingily, and
Alyson willia ms.
Disco was barely a twinkle when I was born, but Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will
Survive” was one of the first songs I remember. Her performance had
everyone on their feet, including producer inductee Nile Rodgers, who
was also celebrating his birthday. (“How’s everyone know that?” he
wondered earlier. I told him they probably planned the whole event just
for him.) Rodgers watched the Chic reunion with a Cheshire cat-sized
grin, as original Chic singer Fonzi Thornton, along with Sylver Logan
Sharp and Jessica Wagner, ran through a medley of the band’s monster
hits, “Le Freak,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” and “Good Times.” Rodgers, when
accepting his induction, said, “People always ask me what the proudest
moment of my life is, and that’s when ‘Good Times’ was No. 2 for weeks
after ‘My Sharona.’ And people said dance music was dead.” Funny,
they’re still saying that. And disco really sucks too.
What doesn’t suck: hurricane benefits. The “NY Loves NOLA” benefit at
the Ace of Clubs, ACME Bar & Grill, and the Culture Project – in an
all-day cabaret and theater performance marathon featuring a hilarious
performance from Mr. Miyagi’s Theater Company – raised $4,291 for the Red
Cross.
,flylife,68240,15.html

Turkish academics break genocide taboo
Aljazeera
Features
Turkish academics break genocide taboo
By Jonathan Gorvett in Istanbul
Tuesday 27 September 2005, 15:21 Makka Time, 12:21 GMT
The recent conference in Istanbul on the controversial killing of Ottoman
Armenians in the closing stages of first world war has been widely lauded as
a breakthrough event which could strengthen accession talks with the
European Union.
“It was a major shift in the understanding here of the importance of freedom
of expression,” Ferai Tinc, a leading columnist with the Turkish daily
Hurriyet, told Aljazeera.net. “It showed a transformation in mentality.”
Others see it as a major step too on Turkey’s rocky road to European Union
membership, with talks on this due to start in just one week’s time.
The conference – held on 24 September amid cries of treachery from hardline
Turkish nationalists and resounding applause from academics, politicians and
pundits – was the first ever in Turkey to see an open discussion on the
events of 1915.
At the turn of the 20th century, Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire,
was allied with Germany and Austria (part of the Austro-Hungarian empire)
against Britain, France and Russia.
Genocide debate
The Ottoman government, many historians say, then organised what amounted to
genocide of its ethnic Armenian population, which was considered pro-Russian
and disloyal.
But Turkish authorities have in the past 90 years denied this version of
events, saying that both Turks and Armenians were killed in chaotic
fighting.
While Ankara does concede that the Ottoman government ordered the
deportation of its ethnic Armenian population to the southeast of the
country, it insists this did not constitute genocide.
This controversy has led to heated and often violent disputes, with the
official Turkish line fiercely defended within the country, effectively
preventing public discussion of alternative points of view.
Yet this month, academics met to do just that – and were pelted with eggs
and tomatoes by hardline Turkish nationalists, who accused the professors of
betraying the country.
The conference had already been cancelled in May after the country’s justice
minister described it as a “stab in the back” by Turkish academics who were
willing to consider claims of a genocide.
Reset for September 23, at the last minute, hardline Turkish nationalists
obtained a court injunction preventing the event from being held at its
original venue.
Yet this ban was successfully got round by another Istanbul university
offering its premises – a move also seen by many as deeply significant.
Important step
“This was Turkey’s academic community asserting its independence,” says
Razmik Panossian, a leading Armenian academic and director of programmes at
the Canadian Rights and Democracy pressure group.
“They were saying ‘We’ll go ahead with this even if people are against us’.
This was a very important step to take.”
For many then, both in Turkey and elsewhere, the significance of the
weekend’s conference, which saw mainly Turkish scholars debate the record,
was not 1915, but 2005.
“The conference was not just about the Armenian issue,” says Ekyen
Mahcupyan, the ethnic Armenian director of Turkish think-tank TESEV’s
democratisation programme. “It was about Turkey showing itself and the world
that it can discuss issues like who we are and what kind of world we want to
live in.”
The conference was also taking place at a crucial time in Turkey’s bid to
become a member of the European Union.
On 3 October, accession negotiations are scheduled to begin, with Brussels
pushing Turkey to further democratise – and taking a dim view of the
controversy over the conference.
Support received
Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan and his foreign minister,
Abdullah Gul, both gave their support for the event and reacted strongly
against the court order cancelling it.
“It is obvious that Europe will be influenced in a positive way by how
things turned out,” adds Mahcupyan. “As soon as the court halted the
conference, everyone reacted – many people came forward to condemn the court
and support the event and free speech.”
The message here, many Turks believe, is that the recent democratic reforms
the current government has introduced are taking hold.
“After the reforms were introduced, there was a lot of questioning in the EU
over whether they would be implemented,” says Tinc.
“Now, the ability to hold this conference shows how the mentality has
changed, enabling the implementation of reform.”
The issue also has wider strategic implications for Turkey’s EU accession
bid. Turkey borders Armenia, yet the frontier remains closed, with no
diplomatic relations between the two.
Frozen relations
The claims over genocide are a key factor in these frozen relations –
although there is one other major issue at stake.
“Relations are being held hostage by the Nagorno Kharabakh conflict,” says
Panossian. Since war between Armenia and Turkish ally Azerbaijan resulted in
the occupation of some Azeri territory by the Armenians, Turkey has shut off
its links with its Armenian neighbour.
“Yet, from the moment the EU accession talks start, the Armenian issue will
keep coming up,” says international relations professor Gareth Winrow of
Istanbul’s Bilgi University – where the conference was eventually held.
“All EU states must have good relations with their neighbours and Turkey
must therefore find a formula for normalising its relations with Armenia.
Perhaps the hope of some Turks in the conference was to begin that process.”
That being said, the conference’s reception has not been entirely popular in
Turkey. Some see the Europeans in particular not as pushing democratic
reform along, but as trying to use the issue against Turkey.
Pressuring Turkey
“People in France and Germany and some other countries encourage the
Armenians to attack Turkey,” says Sedat Laciner , director of the
International Strategic Research Organisation in Ankara.
“They can’t find any other reason to keep Turkey out of the EU so they use
this. Western countries always used the Armenians – in World War I they did
the same thing, encouraging them to rise up against the Ottomans.”
It is a view not too dissimilar from Panossian’s. “European capitals will
use Armenia to put pressure on Ankara,” he says.
“This has been a convenient way for them to set up hurdles for Turkey ever
since the 19th century.”
Meanwhile, ordinary Turks seem largely divided on the issue.
“I don’t think it should have been allowed,” says shop worker Mert Aslan.
“There was no such genocide – it was the Turks who suffered. Nobody ever
talks about that, and to think that Turkish professors are supporting the
Armenians is a shame for us.”
By contrast, student Dicile Atacam said: “I think it’s a very good thing.
If we can’t talk freely about the past, then how can we ever understand each
other today, in the present?”